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Washington, D.C. – Today, ahead of Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for President Donald Trump’s latest slate of judicial nominees, Accountable.US is releasing its latest research investigations into the President’s nominees. The new research is part of Accountable.US’s Judicial Nominations Watch, a one-stop clearinghouse for investigative research on Trump’s judicial nominees, exposing their radical records and the corporate and far-right interests backing them.

 

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In his first term, Donald Trump, backed by congressional Republicans and powerful special interests, launched a sweeping campaign to seize the judiciary, strip away fundamental freedoms, and advance a rigid ideological agenda. This time around, Trump is escalating those efforts by hand-picking judges more committed to the President than to serving impartially on the bench. Just like every other judicial nominee Trump has selected this term, the judicial picks before the Senate tomorrow hold extreme ideological positions, and if confirmed, there is no doubt that they would use their judicial decisions to advance a partisan agenda that guts freedoms.”

Accountable.US President Caroline Ciccone

READ MORE ON TRUMP’S DANGEROUS JUDICIAL NOMINEES: 

Eric Tung, nominee for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals:

Eric Tung is a partner at Jones Day, where he focuses on appeals in commercial litigation and has built his career representing crypto firms seeking to avoid government regulation. He served as counsel for a stablecoin provider in a brief arguing that standalone sales of stablecoins are not securities. He represented the Blockchain Association in a brief opposing the regulation of immutable smart contracts. While representing an investment firm backing crypto companies, he argued for looser liability on a crypto tool. He represented a cryptocurrency derivative trading platform and authored a note about a crypto exchange win. His confirmation to the Ninth Circuit would likely provide Trump a crypto-friendly vote as he seeks to expand his own, personal crypto dealings. 

Tung has expressed radically regressive views about women, claiming that “radical feminists” undermine marriage when they “try to blur gender roles.” Tung has long been linked to Texas anti-abortion crusader Jonathan Mitchell, even serving as his counsel in an amicus brief before the Supreme Court.

Bill Mercer, nominee for the United States District Court of Montana: 

In the state legislature, Bill Mercer has voted for anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ legislation. In 2021, he voted for three bills imposing restrictions on abortion access, including banning abortion at 20 weeks, requiring a 24-hour waiting period and mandatory ultrasounds, and instituting new credentialing for providers. In 2025, the Montana Supreme Court struck down the laws. Mercer sponsored a bill that would remove the right of voters to elect Supreme Court justices, which would likely give a Republican governor more control over the court. 

As a private attorney, he has represented then-Rep. Greg Gianforte, amidst his reporter assault controversy, and oil and mining groups in cases seeking free rein over anti-environmental projects. Mercer was the original local counsel for a group of plaintiffs who sued Montana in order to receive state tuition assistance for religious private schools. The case was a landmark expansion of publicly funded religious schools, even cited in the recent Oklahoma religious charter case.

Joshua Dunlap, nominee for the First Circuit Court of Appeals: 

Joshua Dunlap has spent virtually his entire 16-year legal career at Pierce Atwood LLP, where he serves as a partner in the litigation group and co-chair of the firm’s appellate team. His practice focuses primarily on defending large corporations. His background includes an internship at the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group known for its anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion activism, though this experience is notably absent from his LinkedIn profile. During his 2006 internship at ADF, the organization was actively supporting a photography business that refused to provide wedding services to a same-sex couple.

In an article, Dunlap has also hinted at his support of the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine, characterizing the decision as a “purposeful assignment” that removes regulatory interpretation power from federal agencies and gives it to courts.

Chad Meredith, nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky:

Stephen Chad Meredith served as solicitor general in the Kentucky Attorney General’s office, where he defended Kentucky’s extreme anti-abortion laws. As former governor Matt Bevin’s counsel, Meredith was involved in Bevin’s controversial pardons of convicted killers and sex offenders. Bevin was investigated for pardoning a convicted killer whose family hosted a political fundraiser for him, and disgustingly defended his pardons of sex offenders. Meredith’s previous consideration to the court was met with vehement opposition, and his selection is no less dangerous in 2025.

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